The Country Girls
Summary:
Meet Kate and Baba, two young Irish country girls who have spent their childhood together. As they leave the safety of their convent school in search of life and love in the big city, they struggle to maintain their somewhat tumultuous relationship. Kate, dreamy and romantic, yearns for true love, while Baba just wants to experience the life of a single girl. Although they set out to conquer the world together, as their lives take unexpected turns, Kate and Baba must ultimately learn to find their own way. (Summary and book cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
I just did not like this book. It was well-written, but I was constantly looking for ways to distract myself from finishing it. Generally, I like coming of age books, but this one just had very little point to me. There were no major conflicts or realizations. Additionally, there was not any humor that distracted from the dull, sad lives of the main characters. I was also extremely irritated to discover there was no ending – it’s like the book ends mid-sentence. Despite reading 180 pages about Caithleen (who is a major push-over by the way – UGH), I felt like I knew very little about her.
These books were all banned in the 60’s when they came out due to the honest portrayal of the girl’s sex lives. Spoiler: the girls start relationships with older (40’s & 50’s) men when they’re 18 because they don’t want to be with penniless boys their age. Additionally, Caithleen has this weird relationship with Mr. Gentleman starting in her younger teens which is messed up in so many ways. This rubbed me the wrong way and I just didn’t enjoy reading about it. The book very well may be an accurate portrayal of young girl’s lives growing up in the 60’s, however it was not something I found interesting. If this were not a book in my reading challenge, I would not have finished it.
Warning: Contains some messed up relationships.
Rating: 2 stars!
Who should read it? People fascinated with contemporary Irish history.
Want to read the whole series?
The Lonely Girl (The Country Girls #2)
Girls in Their Married Bliss (The Country Girls #3)